Dame Nicola Davies was born in Llanelli. Her family moved to Bridgend where she attended Oldcastle School and Bridgend Girls Grammar. She read law at Birmingham University. Dame Nicola was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1976. Her chambers were Serjeants’ Inn Chambers in London, her specialist field being medical law.
In 1992 Dame Nicola was appointed Queen’s Counsel, in 2010, a Justice of the High Court, Queen’s Bench Division. Between 2014 and 2017 Dame Nicola was a Presiding Judge of the Circuit in Wales. In 2018 Dame Nicola was appointed to the Court of Appeal. She is the first woman from Wales to hold each of the above appointments.
Dame Nicola is one of four co-conveners of the Inns of Court Alliance for Women founded in 2022. Dame Nicola was the Treasurer of Gray’s Inn for 2023. She is the first woman from Wales to be a Treasurer of an Inn of Court in England and Wales.